Steak with Mustard Butter and French Fries

As the kids say, I’m so devo!(pronounced – deh-vo; translation – devastated; notation – they would be cringing if they knew I was using their words… LOL!)

I’m not devastated by the recipe (however I do think my photo has a lot of to answer for!)
I ordered David Lebovitz’ book My Paris Kitchen from Amazon, excited to participate in this week’s Cook the Book Fridays recipe and it didn’t arrive! I eagerly looked out for the delivery driver’s van every day (starting the day after I ordered the book even though I knew it was impossible for it to be shipped from the US to Australia in 1 day… right?) and nothing! 10 days of waiting and no book in sight.
So I searched until I found the recipe online 🙂
(*The book arrived today!!! The day after I made the recipe but it doesn’t matter, it’s here!!!)

I’m going to veer on a tangent for a second that will be relevant… eventually.
At school pick up, on the day I made this recipe, I chatted with my son’s teacher and discovered that she had a similar experience to me last year. She also picked up a virus that she has yet to recover from. Many appointments with doctors and specialists later, she was told, like I was, we can’t find what is wrong with you, we think it’s probably post viral fatigue… and fibromyalgia. We talked about how frustrating it was and how mentally, physically and emotionally draining it is to go through something like this. It’s still effects us most days, some days worse than others, however we were able to laugh at some of the things doctors have suggested to us along the way, like:
“You haven’t actually passed out so you’re ok”
“Stop focusing on how bad you feel”
“Take a valium every third night and you’ll be ok”
“It’s post viral fatigue and fibromyalgia”
“Post viral fatigue and fibromyalgia are not real”
And my all time favourite by a female doctor:
“I’m going to tell you what I told my patient who asked for a vaginal rejuvenation – go and get yourself a younger man and all your symptoms will disappear” (That is my husband’s favourite!)

I’ve heard so much contradicting, sometimes well meaning and other times just down right patronising and condescending statements that it took my by surprise how good it felt to just have someone to empathise with and validate my experience.
Psychology basics – empathy and validation.
Basics are good!
Basics are the building blocks, the foundations to… well everything I guess.
And that’s where this week’s recipe comes into it (finally)!
Being sick last year I had a lot of time where I could barely move and I couldn’t take in anything that was complex or required much thought, so I caught up with the Real Housewives of everywhere! (I finally know what everyone is talking about).
As I got better I moved from the housewives to watching Top Chef. I’m only a couple of seasons in and I am appreciating how important basics are to cooking. Learning to do the basics well. To me, this week’s recipe is meat and potatoes done well 🙂

The rib eye, rubbed with salt, chipotle chilli and coriander (cilantro) tasted amazing.
The mustard butter added another layer of taste, complimenting the smoky meat.
(They talk a lot about layering flavours in Top Chef and I get it now!)
And those fries! I peeled and sliced 2kg of potatoes (there’s 5 of us) and baked them in a little bit of oil, salt and rosemary. Mine didn’t have as much of the golden colouring as I was hoping for (I think because I baked them on parchment paper) but the taste… wow! The taste was amazing!

My husband and kids appreciated the meal and expressed their satisfaction repeatedly and enthusiastically throughout the meal!
They enjoyed trying new things with the French Fridays with Dorie group and are very excited that they will get to taste and give feedback on a bunch of new recipes.
What more could I ask for 🙂

I am so happy to be part of the Cook The Book Fridays group and can’t wait to catch up with the rest of the group and see what they thought of this week’s recipe. To see the full recipe, I found it on a wonderful blog called SmokySweet.

15 thoughts on “Steak with Mustard Butter and French Fries”

Oh my, I’m so sorry to hear about your experience. I’m grateful not to have had a similar diagnosis, but based on other experiences I can wholeheartedly agree that empathy and validation are sorely underutilized tools in the medical bag. Never had a doctor recommend a younger man though!

Happy to hear that your on the mend and that your book finally arrived and looking forward to cooking together again:-)

I am glad you are back. Being sick without an obvious cause has to be frustrating – especially when you feel the people who are supposed to be helping you aren’t always en pointe…
Glad your book arrived and hope that your family enjoys the results of it as much as mine have so far (the mustard chicken-front cover and caramel chocolate mousse are favorites in my house).

Sanya, I’m so sorry to hear about your illness! The silent illnesses are terrible, and of course, being treated so poorly by the people who are supposed to make you feel better is worse than demoralizing. What I will say is that I’m SO glad you’re joining us and to “see” you and cook with you again!! Glad your book finally arrived–Murphy’s Law, huh, that it arrived right after posting day?

Hi Sanya, I’m so glad you’re cooking with us on this project. I didn’t know about your health challenges. I hope you continue to feel better every day. And that the French challenges give you a mental lift (as well as feeding your family well). I loved this meal. Every page of the book has a recipe I want to try, so I can’t wait to make more recipes. Have a great week!

First, Sanya, I am SO HAPPY that you are back cooking with us. Secondly, I am sad that you’ve had some year-long health issues. My daughter, Melissa, could certainly empathize with you. She spent 2-3 years trying to work through an illness. She could add to your list of idiotic medical advice, believe me. Keep getting better. I personally think your photo looks great. Your french fries look just as tasty as others that were a bit darker. I’m sure you will make this again for your family and can give the other version (without parchment) a try. I am glad you have your book in hand and that we will be hearing from you (and, your family) several times each month.

So glad you are on the mend (and watching culinary programs – like me!), and you now have DL’s book in hand! Enjoyed the medical contents of your post, I baked potato chips on parchment last night (dinner for one) and they were not perfect either – too little oil? I like the dry rub for the steak too. Looking forward to cooking along with you on this DL journey!

So happy you will be cooking along with us again. your steak and fries look wonderful. I had no idea that you were going thru such a rough time, hopefully things are improving now. It is so frustrating to not get the right answers from doctors,
and you are so right with some of the idiotic ideas are totally ridiculous. I especially like the one about a younger man, where do they get these ideas. Have a great weekend, I know you are going to enjoy this book. We met David in New York
and he is so nice.

So happy that you are back with us, and feeling better! Basics indeed! I didn’t make the fries (I saw “fries” and took it literally), but I thought that the steak was really wonderful. Loved everything about it! Oh, and your photo has my mouth watering, so I guess it really was pretty great after all! 🙂

Hi Sanya, Glad you are feeling better, and glad you are back cooking along with us. This dinner was a wonderful treat to my husband for Valentines day! Your steak and fries look delicious…glad you and your family enjoyed it!

That sounds like such a frustrating process to go through. And even if that last doctor was kidding, it’s not particularly compassionate to suggest ditching your husband rather than offering, as you say, the basics in patient relations and care.

I’m so glad you’re back blogging with us! And I’m glad you’ve finally got the book in hand. Your steak frites looks bistro-worthy.

I am sorry to hear about your health issues, so many times I find women’s symptoms are dismissed as psychological- very frustrating- I just think we are more in tune to our bodies.
Anyway, glad you are cooking ( i am new to the group) and your fries look great!